IBN to start negotiation with private firms soon

Jan 5, 2017- Investment Board Nepal (IBN) will soon start negotiations with two private companies for Kathmandu Valley Integrated Solid Waste Management Project. IBN has invited Nepwaste Private Limited and Clean Valley Company Private Limited at its office on Thursday for talks. “The board has formed a nine-member committee under the leadership of IBN CEO Maha Prasad Adhikari to start the negotiation with the companies,” said an IBN official. The main agenda of the discussion would be construction of a landfill site at Banchare Danda. “The detailed project report (DPR) submitted by the developers is not clear regarding the onstruction of the landfill site,” said Rijal. “The board is of the view that the site should be constructed by the developers.” There are also some key issues missing in the report. It is silent about the right over valuables that may be found in the wastes. According to IBN, the government should have such right. Other concerns of IBN included segregation of biodegradable and non-biodegradable wastes at source and developers’ plan to manage hazardous waste. IBN has asked the companies to come up with plans to integrate existing workers of Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) and private operators involved in solid waste management in their projects.

As such issues were missing in the DPR, the 23rd board meeting of IBN on 27 April, 2016, had given conditional approval to the report. These issues, according to the IBN source, will be sorted out during the project negotiation. Earlier, the board was supposed to start project development agreement (PDA) negotiation with both the companies. But as both the companies refused to pay fee before the PDA negotiation as per the IBN Regulations, the board termed the meeting “project negotiation”. According to the regulations, investors have to pay pre-negotiation and agreement execution fee worth Rs100,000, or 0.2 percent of the project cost, whichever is higher. Investors have been complaining that levying such charges is irrational because the signing of PDA doesn’t guarantee that the project will enter the development phase. The board is also convinced by the investors’ opinion and is preparing to take a proposal to the Cabinet to waive such fees.